When and where the presidential debates will take place

The candidates for president who emerge from the primary, open, simultaneous and mandatory elections (PASO) next Sunday will present their proposals to their rivals and society in two electoral debates. The first will be held on October 1 at the University of Santiago del Estero and the second a week later, on October 8, at the Faculty of Law of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). A third debate will be held on November 12 in case there is a runoff. This instance is contemplated in Law 27,337 -sanctioned in October 2016- and aims to “publicize and debate before the electorate the electoral platforms of the parties, fronts or political groups”. The National Electoral Chamber is in charge of organizing the debate and is the one who must regulate all the complementary aspects inherent to its realization, in an environment of neutrality and equality. To carry it out, the CNE formed an Advisory Council composed of organizations from the academic field and civil society. With its advice, the body that depends on the Judicial Power of the Nation “makes suggestions regarding the thematic areas, criteria of moderation and dynamics of the debates that are made available to the candidates so that they agree on the regulations in the public hearing and the corresponding draws are made in terms of the order of presentation and moderators in each debate. ” The Advisory Board is made up of Belén Amadeo, León Carlos Arslanian, Atilio Borón, Marcelo Cavarozzi, Estela B. de Carlotto, Daniel Dessein, Gala Díaz Langou, Delia Ferreira Rubio, Ricardo Rodolfo Gil Lavedra, Adriana Guerrero, Héctor Rubén Paz, Alejandro Tullio and Alejandro Vergara. “A plural composition was sought that reflects different visions and enriches with their experience and participation the organization of the debates,” said the CNE.La rule sanctions those candidates who do not attend the debate with the non-granting of audiovisual advertising spaces. In addition, it states that the physical space that Ie would have been assigned to the missing candidate “will remain empty along with the rest of the participants, in order to denote their absence.” The first presidential debate was held in 2015. On that occasion, Mauricio Macri, Adolfo Rodríguez Saá, Sergio Massa, Nicolás del Caño and Margarita Stolbizer participated. Daniel Scioli, candidate of the then Front for Victory, was not in that first debate. Instead, he attended the second debate, which confronted him only with the still head of the Buenos Aires Government, who finally prevailed in the second round. Daniel Scioli and Mauricio Macri debate in 2015. Photo: NA. In 2019, already with the law in force, six candidates debated: President Mauricio Macri, Alberto Fernández, Nicolás del Caño, José Luis Espert, Juan José Gómez Centurión and Roberto Lavagna.The candidates Nicolás del Caño, Roberto Lavagna, Mauricio Macri, Alberto Fernández, Juan José Gómez Centurión and José Luis Espert. | Photo: AP.

Original source in Spanish